Management bandwidth audit · Free
How many reps can one manager really coach?
Every manager has a limit. Go past it and they stop managing and start firefighting: the urgent gets done, the important gets dropped. The limit depends on three things: the manager’s own skill and experience, what else is on their plate, and how experienced their reps are.
Not every rep takes the same effort.
A new hire needs far more of a manager’s time than a seasoned performer. So we count it in points. A manager can carry up to 16 points and stay fully effective. Each rep adds between 2 and 5, depending on their stage. Beyond 16, effectiveness drops. And if the manager is a selling manager, with a target of their own, they count as 5 points themselves before coaching anyone.
New to the role
Needs direction
Training on product, market and process. Someone joining their calls, help with proposals, systems and finding the right leads.
Selling on their own, still learning
Needs coaching
Frequent call reviews, a check on every recommendation, extra product and package support, and the manager still joins critical calls and call-backs. The stage where people are most likely to leave.
Competent and confident
Needs support
Tight supervision of deal control, regular call reviews and firm KPIs. Often near target, so they are the reps most likely to be neglected.
Fully self-reliant
Needs challenge
Fresh eyes on their calls, coaching to stop bad habits creeping in, and a push towards their next level.
Your team
Put in your team. See your risk.
Add the people one manager looks after, place each one in their stage, and get a personal read-out of what’s at risk, and what to do about it.
1. Who’s the manager?
Do they carry their own sales target?
2. Add their team
3. Drag each person into their stage
Or use the drop-down on each name.
Not placed yet
Names you add appear here.
New to the role
Needs direction
Drag names here
Selling on their own, still learning
Needs coaching
Drag names here
Competent and confident
Needs support
Drag names here
Fully self-reliant
Needs challenge
Drag names here
Manager workload (0 reps)
0 of 16 points
Build the team to see the workload.
Add names above, then place each person in their stage.
What’s at risk
Nothing at risk
Long hours to keep up · 17+ pts
Steady performers neglected · 17+ pts
Coaching dropped · 20+ pts
One-to-ones skipped · 20+ pts
New hires ramp slower · 20+ pts
Forecast blind spots · 24+ pts
Decisions stall · 24+ pts
People start to leave · 24+ pts
A guide, not a verdict. A manager stays fully effective up to 16 points. A selling manager, with their own target, counts as 5 points themselves. It assumes the manager has no duties outside sales and manages salespeople directly, not other managers. Extra responsibilities, or managing managers, lower the number of reps they can coach well.
When the limit is exceeded
An overloaded manager costs more than their own time.
Your reps
- Performance plateaus and win rates drop without regular guidance.
- New hires take far longer to become productive.
- People feel invisible and unsupported, and they leave.
Your managers
- Coaching gives way to admin and firefighting.
- Weekly one-to-ones quietly stop happening.
- Overwhelmed managers burn out and leave too.
Your business
- No one has time to test the pipeline, so forecasts miss.
- Reps wait for approvals and deal help, and decisions stall.
Coaching is the first thing to go. Mentor makes sure it doesn’t.
Coaching one call well can take a manager up to an hour and a half. Mentor coaches every rep on every call, tells the manager what it has coached and why, and keeps a monthly coaching log for the one-to-one. The manager stays in charge; Mentor does the heavy lifting. And if your structure needs rethinking, our consultancy can help you get it right.